166 Comments

Furthermore, I also agree that it’s better to be ‘middle of the road’ with an off chance to make it deep into the playoffs, maybe steal a cup one year, than suck for the forseeable future to grab top 5 picks.

Lundqvist makes this team above average. Having average talent has gotten us to the playoffs before thanks to him, but we need the high end talent to get over that first round hurdle, and to even stand a chance of making it to the east finals.

well, it isn’t ground-breaking, but they invested some time in Grachev and as Jim Schoenfeld said less than a year ago, a lot of times with a kid with that kind of ability, one day the light goes on and he gets it. And all of a sudden he becomes a player.

Now they start over with Fogarty. Just sayin’. Maybe Grachev was never going to make it. But maybe he will, and maybe he’s a lot closer to contributing in the NHL than Fogarty. We’ll grade this one in two or three years or more.

And let’s be honest here, short of googling “insert players name-stats” most of us don’t know the first thing about the guys in the Rangers system. How many of us have watched the CT Whale-wolfpack for a whole season?

We read what guys blog, report, post, etc.

We had a fascination with Grachev, but no nothing of Williams and Kolarik, and they’re the leading scorers in CT. Go figure.

I think the Rangers saw everything they needed to see and traded him while they thought he still had value. Can he turn into more? Maybe. However, I have heard from a few different places that they thought he was a bust. Having tools and putting everything together are two different things. Maybe he puts things together in St. Louis, but it is likely that he wasn’t going to do it in NY. Either the change of scenery helps him or he is in Europe in two years.

It does certainly seem the Rangers wanted Grachev to make it, and be a player.

6’4 kids with hands don’t come around all that often… though by the new NHL culture… at 21 you’re expected to be a superstar, and 24 if you’re not a top scorer or team captain, you’re figured to be useless (i know that’s exaggerating, but not by much!)

Well, IMO this is why under owner Dolan and GM sather the rangers will never get close enough to even sniff a cup finals. They will be a mediocre team every year battling to just make the playoffs. At least I got to watch every game in 94 and finally watch the rangers win a cup in my thirties.

The Rangers are rumored to be pursuing a trade involving their 2012 first round pick with the Kings. In return, the Rangers get a bag of pucks, LA’s 3rd rounder (who we’ll use to draft a bust) and a poster of Drew Doughty.

Trading Werek for nothing, and now Grachev for anything = something will detonate in our faces. Drafting Miller – Oh God, No, is the best anyone can say. You check the grades given to first rounds selections at various Canadian-based web sites and Miller is, by far, rated THE WORST PICK IN THE FIRST ROUND. Looks like this club is good for a top-tier defense, for years to come, and a bottom-tier Offense. Really disgusting and pathetic.

All I know is that Miller is a career Hartford kind of guy, the next Brodie Dupont. And the pansy-swede we got for Werek has great D stats, except he’s an F. It just goes on. Really losing the rudder now, in his old age desperation, that’s Slats. Reminds me of how Emile The Cat kind of lost it at the end of his tenure here, too, as wonderful a father-figure as he was to the players and so many of us fans.

Why not keep Grachev types, and NOT bring in Frolov types? How would it hurt to keep promising kids around for a few years, at least, until they bust or make it, instead of replacing them with older guys who cost the sun, the moon, and the stars and don’t deliver. This Gaborik, Drury, Gomez, Prospal, etc. QUICK FIX mentality is maddening.

GABBY – Miller get a C+, the lowest, by far, first round grade at Bleacher report. In fact, at another site, prior to the draft, there was a column about the three players to avoid in the draft, and Miller was one of the three. So depressing.

I can only conclude from many of the comments over the last 2 days that many would have preferred it if the Rangers used their first round pick to select a 6’6″ 240 pound fast skating center, who led his league in goals, assists, hits, and fighting majors, and was still available at the 15th selection. So would I.

The problem is no such player exists, so come down to earth and get real.

GP G A PTS
9 19 22 41
TSN SCOUTING REPORT: At 6-foot-5 and not without the ability to score and make plays, Dartmouth’s Hugh Jessiman has turned a lot of heads this season. In scouting lexicon, he’s a big man who came out of virtually nowhere and, while his track record as a top prospect may be limited, scouts have to decide if he’s worth a roll of the dice this high in the draft. There has been some talk that he’ll go a lot closer to 10 than 20. Great skill, great size.

Mr. Klein, you could be right that Grachev and Werek will not make it. The greater point I should have made more clearly is that you part ways with too many kids, too soon, one or more of them, in time, will burn your butt. Gordie Howe – we quit on him a year before he filled out, physically. More recently, Marc Savard we let go of and he had quite a terrific career. How about a 23-year old Rick Middleton for a 33-year old and washed-up Ken Hodge? I would rather keep a kid a year too long, than part with him when the jury on his development and career is still out.

I’ll be the first person to criticize the Rangers taking McIlrath because drafting players based on size usually is a mistake, however since the Rangers had Del Zotto coming off a very promising rookie season and McDonagh turning pro the Rangers had no need for Fowler (who is basically the same player) or Gormley

None of the premier offensive guys had slipped out of the top 10 so the Rangers went with a guy they didn’t have in their system and took a risk on the big kid instead of creating a surplus in one area.

I personally don’t think it was the right move and would have drafted a forward but I wont call a player a bust until I see them play 1st hand…

It is not JT Millers fault that he was drafted where he was. As a fan, I of course hope that he turns out to be a great player . The larger problem is that they could have traded down 5 spots and still acquired him while adding a second round pick. I think if it was possible a better use of Grachev may have been to trade up to the 11th spot and pick up Murphy who could have quaterbacked the power play for the next 10 years.

bleacher report is nothing but a marketing ploy. they use misleading, overhyped headlines, and multi-page slideshow type layouts to force readers to click on multiple pages to inflate their clickthru rates

Bleacher report gives Miller a C+, those picked following Miller’s selection include: Buff – Armia A-; Montreal – Beaulieu A; Chicago McNeill A. WAY TO GO, SLATS! Can you just run for President of the USA, now, since incompetence is not a disqualifier?

The Rangers, coming out of this draft still have no elite or even a highly skilled 1st line quality player. It is unfortunate that this regime has to only rely on free agency to try and get top flight talent. A strategy that has been an abject failure to say the least. Next week we will all come back to this blog to bitch about the length and over payment of Richards contract and how it will handcuff us for many years to come. Nothing ever changes here even though they have a few decent prospects now, it will still only translate to a mediocre finish a mid first round pick that will be another disappointment. Nothing will ever change here.

The Debbie Downers of this blog are funny sometimes. Vancouver was the best team in the NHL, lost in the finals, and half of Canada would kill Luongo if they had the chance. They probably want to trade the Sedins after their Houdini act in the finals.

Every team has it’s pessimists, and doom and gloom people. We’re no different.

Being a fan is emotional, and at times leads to anguish and bitterness.

I realize that sometimes my posts come off as condescending and ‘matter of fact’ly. Trust that’s not my intention, and I try to use logical and factual information whenever possible… of course my opinions get mixed in there from time to time, but by no means am i an expert, or think i’m right 100% of the time.

Just wanted to throw that out there and let you guys and gals know i never say anything intentionally to disrespect youse, or insult anyone’s intellegence.

I knew very little about any of those guys, and all my knowledge was from different websites that anyone here could use. It looks like I knew much less than a lot of people on the blog did. But, nonetheless, everyone’s knowledge was from the same sources. And it looks like the sources had pretty conflicting descriptions too…I just think it’s a little childish to call one or another player a bust or a star without being actually involve in the professional scouting process.

Let me put it this way: one can find multiple websites and sources that describe how to perform brain surgery. But would anyone here be comfortable hiring that person as their neurosurgeon?

I wonder how many flyers fans just rip their organization about the year we drafted hank in like the 6th round and say man can you believe all the bums we took and passed up that goalie.

C’mon people, sheeesh. I have never seen so many “experts” in on place that know so much about every player and move yet know absolutely NOTHING more about any of it than the rest of us, so try being a bit more positive or at least optimistic!

Gaborik is not I repeat is not an elite player. I hate to break it to you. Elite players make others around them better and come to play every night. They also lead their teams to the playoffs and lead their teams in the playoffs. Gaborik has done neither of those things in his career. Is he a good player? Yes very good. Elite? Don’t make me laugh!!!

I told you that the butt chin rumor came from an article I read by Brooks or one of the other beat writers. I complain about things that annoy me as fan. One championship is not enough for me in the 37 years that I have been watching them. Is it for you?

What do you contribute to this blog other than you lame ass comments that make sound like a ten year old child?

Great point! They don’t know how to maximize the trade value of their players. Nor are they able to evaluate the long term potential of any of their prospects. It has gotten better lately but for the most part it still sucks. And Sather is to blame for it.

Yeah, provide a link to that specific article. All I’ve read was that the Kings might be interested in Butt-Chin, and Slats is not looking to trade him, but he’s listening to offers.

One championship is not enough for you? What does that have to do with proving your BS opinions?? Open your eyes.

I contribute a lot to this blog. I’m the goddamn voice of reason! Don’t forget it!

Ohhh, McNeil would have played next season, and scored 50 goals, because Bob McKenzie likes him, ohhh, McIlrath isn’t an NHL player, I’ve seen clips of him on youtube, ohhh, JT Miller is a bust because he was ranked 25th, ohhh!

NOBODY HERE has ANY PROOF of anything that may/may not have happened at the draft, or about anything that will happen in the years to come. EVEN THE ORGANIZATIONS WHO SCOUT AND WATCH THESE PLAYERS FOR YEARS AND YEARS HAVE NO PROOF. So can the naysayers stop pretending they know what they’re talking about? If you knew what you were talking about, you would have been hired by an NHL franchise, a fortune teller, or a band of Gypsies. Those of us saying that we don’t know what’s going to happen, well, pat yourselves on the back for not being abject failures when it comes to comprehension.

I agree with Latona – people who have spent their whole lives in and around hockey can’t agree (or be consistently correct) on how a prospect might pan out in the future, except for players like Gretzky, Orr, even Cindy and Mary-O…..

I’m a fan – I’ve never played the game – I readily admit that I don’t know squat about how to evaluate a player that I’ve never even seen play on *television*, much less in person!

I think we need to leave the decisions to the pros – even the most misguided pros (like ones in our front-office?) know legions more than we do!

I’ve been having a pretty busy day, so I haven’t been posting. But on the rare breaks that I have, I come here and what I read almost melts my cornea. It’s just.. unfathomable that people pretend to be experts on all these players, and the draft, and the Rangers, and the league as a whole. The best we can do is express our OPINIONS, which, by the way, are ill-informed, even if you research them. The amount of information available to us is microscopic compared to those working for the league and any professional hockey franchise. But for some of the people around here to state “facts” and such, it’s absolute idiocy.

I agree 1000%. It’s ok to voice an opinion, it’s ok to disagree with someone else’s opinion, but the name calling and pot shots are childish.

” You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. ”
” The only fool bigger than the one who thinks he knows it all, is the one who argues with him. ”
” I thought I was wrong once, turns out I was only mistaken. ”

” Faced with the decision to change one’s opinion, or proving there is no need to do so, most get busy on the proof. “

the trend in the past few years is more about picking guys with good attitudes an work ethic over a more skilled but more likely to not give it their all. hes a project yes, but hes a good character guy and may not score as many goals as some other guys drafted after him, but will maybe backcheck harder and help prevent a goal, or forecheck harder which turns the puck in our possession which keeps play going and helps cause a goal indirectly. the plays right before a goal are scored are just as important as the goal. and he will fit in with our core group better than some others. thats the general logic clark and scouting staff have been talking about in terms of how they are evaluating these kids.

exactly. I think the Rangers did what they could. In a perfect world they could have realized that his OHL game would not translate to the pros and traded him before the other 29 teams found out but thats just ridiculous to expect.

We drafted him in the 3rd round and traded him for a 3rd rounder. Now hopefully the kid they took has a better fate…

He just felt that he wasn’t fitting in with our system. He’s been with us for three years now, two years in Hartford. We liked him. We just feel that the person that we got in the trade is going to be able to respond a little bit quicker. Sometimes guys get trapped up in that situation where they don’t think they can go anywhere, and you’re better off going. They really like (Steven) Fogarty, so we made a deal to get him.”

“Frankly, I’d shopped Grachev around for over a year now. Really, the only team that seemed to have a lot of interest was St. Louis. They’d seen him in Traverse City, and they liked him. It just seemed like it wasn’t going to be a fit for us in New York. So, it was better to be able to move him for a real good prospect, and if we’d hung on to him and he had a poor year this year, there wasn’t going to be a lot of value. So we decided to do something earlier rather than later. He may still turn out. Just needs a fresh start.”

I hafta be honest In my heart I knew Grachev was never going to be a Ranger. It never felt like a good fit. not with the kinda team the organization is developing with Torts at the helm and in general he just didn’t ever seem to have that “light go on” as they put it. I got attacked a little for saying he wasn’t the goods. mainly bc he is still young and I can respect that. But this move doesn’t surprise me and to be honest I’d rather see more North American prospects then enigmatic Euros. Not trying to discriminate but it seems like its more about mental development than physical development with the Euro kids.

ps- these threads are almost identical to last year. lotta people unhappy with the draft picks and ultimately it’s going to be a few years before we see what we really have.